Familiar Strangers
by AuthorOfTomorrow216
Summary: I'm normal, as in NOT a character from a teen/young adult book. So why are all my neighbors from Harry Potter, Twilight, Maximum Ride, and other famous books? I have a feeling my high school life is going to get a lot more interesting...
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys, this is kind of like my Bystander Series thing but that kind of went down hill as I found that I hadn't actually read all of the books people are suggesting and I'm broke( in other words, I have to buy those books and I have no money to do so) Anyway, thought of this idea and thought it was cool so tell me what you think.**

When my family and I moved into this small quaint town I never expected that I actually knew all of my neighbors. That's something you aren't supposed to know, I mean that would be creepy. But I think just about every single teenager on the face of this weird world knows my neighbors. 

Who are they? Only a couple of the most famous _characters _in the world of teenage literature. That's right, I said my neighbors are characters from some of the most famous books in the world. My next door neighbors just happen to be The Cullens on one side and on the other? None other than the Harry Potter wizards. Surprising huh?

So how did a average sixteen-year-old girl and her family come upon such a town? Well turns out most of these guys actually wrote their books! How I found this out? Let's just say when you live in a town with teen spy Alex Rider, you pick up a few things. Anyway my mom and dad work for a very humongous book company who picks out facts and throws in fake parts into the stories these characters write. 

We moved here and my brother and I started school with a couple of these characters. I've read almost every teen/young adult book know to man(I'd even stretch it to alien) and have to say I'm bit of a… fanatic. What I'm trying to say is that it didn't take me long to put two and two together.

(Ex.: When a Bella and Edward Cullen were called out in attendance and when it was sunny the next day they were no where to be found. Or when walking from one class to another I heard someone yell "expellaramus!" and heard a crash. Also a couple flying children tipped me off too.)

Anyway I've decided that this is every fanfictoners dream and have decided to record my days and interesting agenda with you. My name is Destiny Morgan and I live in a town where books really do come alive. 

**Sorry this is so short but I needed a way to start things off. Anyway tell me what you think. Flames will be tolerated as constructive criticism if they are legit. If you want to flame just to flame go ahead, just remember that I won't share my smores or any other roast-on-a-stick-food with you. Please comment and tell me what you think =)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Second Chapter! Woot! This is where the story starts so be sure to keep reading! Also thank you for commenting! You know who you are because you're the only person that commented and when flamers come along I shall share my roasted-on-a-stick-food with you!**

"Destiny Morgan?" the teacher called but I didn't hear it, I was too busy falling asleep on my desk. I didn't actually hear anything until someone elbowed me and I yelped and jumped up in my seat.

"Aqui! Here! Ici!" I yelled in the three languages I knew.

"Thank you Ms. Morgan but I believe that just English is acceptable." the teacher said and most of the other students laughed.

"Yeah, sorry…" I mumbled and set my head back down on the desk.

"Dude, you've been here for a week and you're already failing." My lab partner, Darren Shan mumbled to me. (Cirque Du Freak…. Half Vampire and apparently a chemistry whiz.)

"Whatever, _dude._" I replied sourly. I really had a bad night, I couldn't sleep at all. I had to resort to sleep with my iPod blaring in my ears. That would have worked if I didn't know every song on there and couldn't help but sing along thus keeping me awake even more. "And if you were grammatically correct I would be a dudette." I thought about what I said for a moment then continued as Darren opened his mouth and his eyes got a devilish glint. "Don't even." I threatened.

He laughed and I was forced to wake up a little as two students came into the room, well, more like _flew _into the room. I looked up at the two redheaded kids on broomsticks then sunk back down. George and Fred, of course. (Yup, caught you there didn't I? Turns out one of those fake parts thrown into the story was Fred Weasly dying in the Battle.)

"I don't even want to know. Just take your seats and put your brooms in the back." The teacher said, I've been to his class ever since I got here and still forgot his name. Fred and George dismounted and walked to the back; not without "accidentally" knocking a few beakers over with their brooms.

(In case you're wondering: On a usual circumstance, with me being a new student [as in not from a novel], everyone would usually try to keep their true identities to themselves. But last week I put two and two together and came out with my answer which strangely looked like fifty four; but that's besides the point. I found out and was coerced into telling the headmaster(aka Dumbledore [Yeah, another surprise for you]) and he was actually pretty cool with it.

Turns out that only one other kid found out about the true identities of the characters (no pun included) in this school and town. I actually think he was proud of me. I sure was, considering I thought I was driving myself into the Loony Bin. Anyway, back to Chemistry.

"Okay, now that there will be no further interruptions," he stopped to glare at the red headed twins, they smiled, as if that would prove their innocence… keep dreaming guys. "I want you guys to work with your partners and create a chemical or physical change. I will give the choice of which to do as we will go over the two tomorrow." Then the teacher walked around the class giving each pair a slip of paper.

"Ms. Morgan," I jerked my head up and smoothed out my hair which was trying to create static energy.

"I'm sorry, it won't happen again." I mumbled but unfortunately didn't get off the hook that easily.

"You have already fallen asleep in my class twice and we're not even ten minutes in." he explained and I looked down sheepishly. "Falling asleep will not be tolerated in my class, or in any other classes for that matter. If you feel ill then I will write you a note to see the nurse. If you do not and I catch you sleeping again you are going to have a one week detention."

I looked sadly in the direction of Darren and he gave me an understanding nod. "Can I go to the nurse, please?" I gathered my stuff while the teacher(I really needed to find out his name) wrote my note.

"I'll give you the notes, I'll drop them off at the nurses office at lunch or when I see you in Algebra or English."

"Thanks, Darren, I owe you one."

"I know," he grinned evilly I rolled my eyes and after getting the note made my way to the nurses office.

Despite how many teenage fiction novels have been written and the amount of characters the school was actually pretty small. I found the nurses office without a problem and walked up to the door to open it.

I could tell you that that's when I went in, got in a surprisingly comfy cot, and fell asleep for a good couple of hours, woke up before lunch, and hung out with the few friends I had. If I did tell you that then I would be lying.

Instead I walked up to the door and heard the most terrifying thing I have ever heard. "I'm telling you, those idiot Morgan parents don't expect anything, those blasted kids know everything! You do know what happens if our secret gets out, don't you?" I didn't wait to hear the rest, I ran in the opposite direction and puked my breakfast an most of my guts out in the girls bathroom.

If books come alive here then I guess the villains would do the same. Now, do something for me, imagine all the villains in all the teenage fiction books. Pretty scary huh? Now imagine all of them having a grudge against you and your family. Scary doesn't even cover it.

**Sorry I took so long but I've been having writer's block for this story and my Bystander one. And, you know, I'm a lazy teenager… (Don't think that has nothing to do with this.) But I just finished with Finals and am on my Christmas break so expect much more ideas and sooner updates!**


	3. Chapter 3

**I'm sorry for the lack of updates… I really have no excuse because I've had this chapter in my head for months I just haven't written it down yet. Yeah, I know, bad Author! Anyway here it is:**

**Chapter Three**

"Okay, no more oatmeal for breakfast." I groaned at the toilet and squeezed the bridge of my nose.

"Hey, are you okay in there?" I heard someone call with a musical voice.

"Uh, I'm fine." I mumbled back but another roll of my stomach convinced the girl otherwise.

"Do you want me to get the nurse?" At that I jumped up, wiped my mouth with toilet paper, flushed, and jumped out of the stall. Luckily the person who was outside my stall was Alice Cullen, if she hadn't had been a vampire I would have hit her with the stall door.

"I'm fine, see… I should be heading back to class actually." Even though Alice was short, I was no skyscraper, she and I stood at about the same height.

"Destiny, you look really bad actually. You're almost as pale as I am!" Her musical laugh echoed through the bathroom.

"Gee, thanks." I mumbled heading over to the mirror to see if I missed any vomit. "What are you doing in here anyway?" I asked examining my face, I was clean. I turned on the faucet and washed my mouth out.

"Fixing my hair," Alice replied and I was shocked. The Cullens always looked perfect. I spit out tainted water and continued to rinse my mouth.

"Why, you always have perfect hair." I said between rinses. Alice stared at me and I almost shivered as her topaz drilled into my hazel ones.

"Jasper said he felt something wrong. He felt it from you so I decided to check it out." Of course.

"Well, I appreciate it but I'm fine now. I must have ate something bad or whatever. My mom can't cook to save her life… or anyone's life for that matter." I smiled a weak smile and heard the bell ring.

"If you need anything just tell me." Alice said as she headed towards the doors. I bit my lip and called out to her.

"Alice, uh, do you… since you guys are like, characters… and you know protagonists and antagonists…" I trailed off.

"I have taken high school English more times than you could count." She laughed.

"Uh, yeah… you know, um, I'll figure it out." I mumbled and grabbed my bag slinging it over my shoulder. "Thanks anyway." I was actually surprised when she let me pass her. I didn't want her to corner me so I nearly ran off into my next class. I just hoped I got through the day.

"Hey, we saved you a seat!" I looked over to Darren and Ron (Wizard, is that enough of a clue?)

"Thanks guys," I slid in between them and hurriedly opened my math book trying to busy myself.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah, you look like you just threw up." The both questioned me at the same time.

"No, just a little shaky… I guess it's lack of sleep." I lied… it was believable wasn't it?

"Didn't you go to the nurse? Darren said you did." Ron asked and I was saved by the teacher walking in. He took role and I answered when he called me. (Only in English this time.) And we went on with the lesson.

Until we were interrupted. The telephone in the classroom rang and the teacher stopped his lecture to answer. "Yes, yes, just a minute." Mr. Delsnare turned to the class. "Destiny Morgan?" I raised my hand. "You have a phone call, go out in the hall." I stood up trying to ignore the way Ron and Darren looked at me and the way I swallowed nervously.

I took the phone and went out in the hall taking a few deep breaths before I answered. "Hello?"

"Destiny Morgan, we know you know about us. We also know that you overheard us. If you tell anyone what we're planning your parents will discover the truth of us. I know you know what that means."

"I— I don't—" I tried but the person on the other end hung up. I dropped the phone and collapsed.

**Ooooh, how scary… I wasn't sure where the phone call came from but here it is. Tell me if you like it! Also R&R 'cause it makes me happy! **


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry for the long wait, 'member what I said about being a lazy teenager? Yeah, well that comes into effect. I also have an English Report I have to do. A writer dreading a written report on writing. Yeah, I'm sad.**

** Okay on with Chapter Four:**

I was collapsed by the door for what seemed like seconds but must've been a lot longer because someone came out of the room and touched my slumped shoulder. "Destiny?" I looked up a little shocked that when I jerked my face tears had fallen on me. It was Darren; he looked a little worried as he looked down on me.

"There's a family emergency. I need to go and get my brother." I mumbled standing up shakily and wiping my face with my hands.

"What happened? Are you okay?" He asked as I continued to wipe my face trying to look presentable, not that it really mattered but I didn't need Darren or Ron questioning me. If I accidentally told them that would be it for my family.

"My mom's in the hospital." I lied.

"Oh, is she okay?" He asked lamely.

"She's in the hospital, Darren." I nearly growled. "I have to get Nick," I muttered and made my way back to the classroom. I went up to the teacher's desk and explained my situation. He nodded and gave me a load of homework. I ignored Ron and Darren staring at me.

"Alright, go sign out at the office." I nodded, grabbed my stuff, and nearly ran out the door. I made my way to the office and looked around; no one was at the front desk at the moment and with a look at the clock I decided that signing out wasn't important. It was almost lunch time, I didn't need to deal with my friends, or anyone else trying to stop or stall me.

I went out to the school parking lot and was searching through my bag for my keys when the bell rang. I searched some more and found them, tucked them in my pocket and ran to the old gray car. It was a '97, as old as my brother. I hurried to the car and slid into the driver's seat. "Where are we going?" someone asked from the back seat. I jumped up and clapped a hand to my mouth. I twisted around to see who had spoken.

"What the flying crap nickels from Mars!" I yelled staring angrily at my two stowaways. "Get out!" I yelled to Darren and Ron, who were already buckled in and even brought snacks for the ride.

"Hey, don't be so rude, we came to help." Ron mumbled through a mouthful of food.

"I don't –" I started but Darren held up his hands and started talking.

"Ron was eavesdropping; he heard who was on the phone." Darren explained and my mouth hung open and only closed as another person entered my small car. I promptly turned in my seat and hit my head on the steering wheel.

"You told the teen spy?" I asked.

"Yeah, the one with the name, too." I let my head off the horn and turned to face Darren, Ron, and now Alex.

"Please don't tell me there's someone in the trunk." I sighed and got out of the car. I walked to the trunk and opened it. Thankfully no one was there. I walked back to the car and started it.

"So we're picking up you little brother?" Alex asked strapping his seat belt on.

"Yes, do you want me to drop you off at school after?" I asked turning out of the parking lot to take the road.

"No, we're your back up." Darren said and I nearly crashed the car into a semi in front of us.

"You heard the flipping phone call!" I yelled pulling over to the shoulder. "Get out!" I screeched.

"Whoa, Destiny! It's okay!" Darren yelled, unbuckling his seat belt and climbing into the passenger seat. "Look, the person said not to tell anyone, they can't help it if the 'anyone's' are nosy."

"Plus the fact that none of you are getting out," I added angrily.

"Your car is comfy." Ron mumbled patting my old seats.

"Don't be mad at us, we're all you got." Alex brought up.

"Darren, get in the back. I'm not talking to any of you." Darren climbed into the back and slouched grumpily into the seat. He opened his mouth and I glared. I grabbed my iPod from my bag, plugged it into the auxiliary cord and found a loud song with a quite a bit of screaming. They all hated it; they told me when I tried to introduce them to it on the first day of school.

"_Blood is dripping from my hands_

_Tell me, is this what you wanted_

_I'm the one that walked away_

_For me, it's all that I needed_

_With nowhere to turn, I'll find truth_

_Only with you_

_What's left of me is yours to keep_

_What's left of me is yours_

_Only with you_

_What's left of me is yours to keep_

_What's left of me is yours"_

The music continued to scream in my ears and shake my small car and all its passengers until I pulled into the Junior High parking lot to get my brother.

**A/N: I was going to make this longer but decided I'll make a chapter out of the second part. Okay, not sure If I did a disclaimer for this story but I obviously don't own anything. This is called Fanfiction for a reason. The song belongs to Bless The Fall. **

**Also since I really need it: Please can you guys give me some random name? A guy name possibly, I need it for **_**Him**_**, a character in my Bystander Series who needs to stop being a pronoun.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry for the really long wait, I said I was going to do a new chapter for this story too but I went on a vacation and they had no internet access… I even tried to hack into their password encrypted service. Anyway here's the long awaited Chapter Five of Familiar Strangers.**

"Will you at least stay in the car?" I asked as I parked looking back at my three completely unwanted passengers.

"Yeah, sure." Was the most assuring answer I got from Alex. Which, coming from a teenage spy who is supposed to creep around and follow me was not in any way assuring. I gave them all a hard look and sighed.

"Please, don't make any more trouble than I'm already in. You mess this up it means…" I couldn't make myself say it. Death, which is completely irreversible.

"Destiny, we promise, believe it or not we actually like you. You're our only Outside friend." Darren said leaning forward.

"Alright, just…just…"

"Go and get Nick, we're fine." Ron mumbled and I blinked, he was solemn. I hurried and went to the front office and lied my way through the school secretary to get to my brother. My little brother was thirteen, tall, tan, and toned. He even had the beginnings of a six pack from doing crunches every night.

"What are you doing? The teacher said we had a family emergency." He was in P.E. shorts and shirt. He wasn't all that tall, he was about 5'3 but he towered over me.

"We do, come on." I grabbed his wrist and signed him out. The secretary gave me her condolences before I left which strangely made me queasy.

"What's wrong? Destiny? Hey! What the heck? Can you even hear me?" Nick yelled throwing his hands up.

"Put your bag in the trunk, let's go." I opened the trunk for him and got in the driver's seat. All my unwanted passengers were still where I had left them.

"What are they doing?" I peeled out of the parking lot and poured on the gas as I hit the freeway. "What's going on?" My brother yelled.

"Nick, listen, Mom and Dad are in trouble, okay."  
"What? Did Dad try and steal the sample cookies at the mall again?" Ron and Darren laughed. I glared at them in the rearview mirror.

"No, this is worse. You know how you think this place is weird?" I asked checking my mirrors to switch lanes.

"Yeah, whole bunch of characters this place has." I tensed and nearly slammed on my brakes. Did he know? Was he supposed to?

"What do you mean by that?" Alex asked, his voice was perfectly calm.

"You guys think I'm stupid or something?" Nick said and I hurriedly pulled into the open garage in my driveway. "I found out about this place the first ten minutes in school. Ever wonder why Mom had to pick me up late from school? That's why." I turned the car off and stared at my brother.

"You don't read! _Diary of a Wimpy Kid _doesn't count, it had pictures." I exclaimed.

"I read all your books when we were waiting to get cable."

"You have a smart brother." Ron mumbled. I sighed, and then opened my door.

"Let's just go inside." I hurried everyone to the door then fought with my key ring for the right key. I pushed open the door then screamed. Alex was behind me and slapped his hand over my mouth.

Every piece of furniture we had was broken; glass and wood were on the floor. But that wasn't what made me scream. "Squishy!" Nick called and ran to the huge lump of fur that was sprawled out on the torn rug.

Darren sniffed the air. "He's bleeding." Squishy was our huge Saint Bernard that my brother had named when we got him two years ago.

Alex helped me over to the couch, it was flipped over but I slumped against it. "Squishy! Speak to me! Please! Do something!" My brother cried and screamed. Ron had to pull him off the dog.

"He's breathing, he's unconscious." Darren mumbled, his eyes were fixated on the red that stained Squishy's chest. "This was on him." Darren handed me a bloodstained paper. My hands were shaking so bad I couldn't read it. Alex took it from me and read it out loud.

"We understand that some of our kind found out, we understand it wasn't your fault. This note if for Darren Shan, Ron Weasly, and Alex Rider: Take this as a warning, we have their parents but their dog may live. If there are any more mishaps we can't promise anything."

Ron had taken out his wand and was gesticulating over the huge dog. "He'll be fine, he just needs to rest." Ron said to Nick who was wiping away tears on his shirt.

"What are we going to do?" I yelled out and turned to punch the couch. "They have our mom and dad!" I yelled and threw my fist at the couch, it didn't meet; Alex caught my wrist.

"Alright, alright…" Darren trailed off.

"They must want something other than your being quiet." Alex said, he dropped my wrist and leaned against the upturned couch.

"What do you mean? I heard them! They said 'do you know what happens if anyone finds out about us?' How can they want something else?" I cried.

"They took your parents, they didn't want anyone to know about them but your parents know now." Alex tried to explain.

"I don't get it." I admitted.

"It's simple," my brother spoke up, his voice was thick from crying. "They don't care about what we know, they want us dead. They want to kill us before we tell anyone." Nick choked and coughed to hide the sobs. "They're using Mom and Dad as bait, they going to make us give them an excuse to kill us." Nick choked again then started to cry, he pushed his head into Squishy's fur to muffle the sound.

"They can't, they can't… can they?" I asked feeling water spill over my cheeks.

"No, Dumbledore won't allow it; we only washed away memories before. No one here believes in killing." Ron mumbled.

"So what else could they want?" I cried feeling my insides grow cold.

"Are these yours?" Darren asked, he was holding up books I had bound myself.

"Yeah, I wrote them." I mumbled and Ron, Alex, and Darren all looked at each other then at me, their faces were pale and their eyes were huge, full of surprise and freight.

**So, that's it for Chapter Five. Kind of creepy huh? I really hate animal cruelty but I couldn't find a way for the message to be scary enough, I promise you though, Squishy will survive. Read, Rate and Review!**


	6. Chapter 6

_**I'M BACK! Anyway, this hiatus was completely unintentional! I had forgotten my password and whenever I asked for a new one it either didn't work or didn't arrive in my e-mail! So, now for the long awaited sixth chapter of Familiar Strangers! I apologize so much for this unintentionally delay. On a whim I decided to try again to get into my account and it worked! Okay, enough talk, read, read, read! (Also, if any of you had read my stuff from FictionPress, the same thing happened and I had to start a new account. The new one my username is TheAngelWithTheScabbedWings, my old username is the same one I have here. If you're interested in reading anything original from me, feel free!)**_

Chapter Six

"What?" I asked worriedly.

"You wrote these?" Darren asked, flipping through the pages.

"Yeah, why?" I asked, wiping my sleeve across my nose. I sniffled, trying to get rid of unwanted tears.

"Destiny…" Alex mumbled as he grabbed another book, flipping through it.

"What?" I snapped. "What? Just spit it out!" I exclaimed, growing impatient.

"That's why they want you!" Ron exclaimed, he waved his wand around wildly. "You made up these characters! You made up scenarios!" He yelled.

"So?" I asked. "I write for fun, I don't want to get published or anything." I said softly.

"But here… characters come alive… if you have the power to make up characters and scenarios… you could alter ours." Alex mumbled slowly, figuring things out as he went.

"No!" I exclaimed. "That's not possible! My characters were never real in the first place! You guys are real! There's a difference!"

"Des," Nick mumbled, his voice was still thick with tears. "They put fake stuff in their books… some of it came true, they can mess with their futures by putting out another book."

"So… so if I wrote about you guys… and changed something from your books and published it as my own… it would come true?" I asked.

"No idea, but I bet that's what the Villains think." Darren said, he set the book down.

"So what do we do?" I threw my hands up. "If we do anything to stop them they're going to kill—" Tears started cascading over my face, I couldn't say anymore.

"First things first, we have to rescue your parents." Ron said. "And then we can try and mess with your books."

"Hey, great plan," Nick muttered sarcastically. "So do you know where our parents are?" He hissed.

Ron looked down, muttered something… probably an offensive name. "I know!" Ron exclaimed suddenly. "The Marauder's Map!"

"It could work… but doesn't that only show Hogwarts?" Alex asked.

"I could tweak it a little and make it show the town." Ron said excitedly.

"So… get to it!" Darren snapped his fingers expectantly.

"Accio Marauder's Map!" Ron exclaimed raising his wand. We waited for a full minute without any results.

"Is that stick working?" Alex asked dryly.

"My _wand's _working perfectly, see." He flicked it in Alex's direction. "Stupify!" He yelled, Alex dodged a red beam of light, it smashed into my couch instead, sending the stuffing flying into the air.

"Watch it Weasley!" Alex yelled, he then tackled Ron to the ground.

"Are you trying to destroy what's left of our house?" I screamed at him.

"Hey, stop it!" Darren yelled, trying to get the two boys away from each other.

"He's going to break my wand!" Ron yelled.

"I'm aiming for your face!" Alex yelled back.

"Boys," I huffed.

"Squishy!" Nick cried out in pure delight. The huge two hundred pound dog was now conscious and as healthy as ever. After jumping on Nick and licking his face relentlessly Squishy walked over to me, wagging his huge fluffy tail.

A smile crept on my face as I glance at the three boys on the ground wrestling. "Squishy, sick 'em!" I commanded, pointing to the boys.

Squishy bounded over to my friends and barked loudly, he then proceeded to slobber all over them, eventually making them stop fighting. "Ew! This is worse than Fang's drool!" Ron cried. "And Hagrid's three headed monster!" With a wave of his wand, Ron was all cleaned up. Reluctantly he washed the drool off of Alex and Darren as well.

"Okay, now that we've got that settled what are we going to do about the Marauder's Map?" I asked. "If you can't get to it that means someone else was using it, why don't you go ask Harry for it, it's his anyway." I suggested.

"Oh… you know… for a muggle… you make sense." I frowned slightly. Before I could yell at Ron for calling me a muggle he turned and disappeared. Ron returned a few minutes later with a yellowed piece of paper. "Okay, now just give me a few moments." He pressed his wand against the paper. "I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good," The map revealed itself. Ron spent fifteen minutes barking incantations at the map before he was satisfied. "Got it, here's the town."

"Let's see…" Darren mumbled as we all crowded around the map, even Squishy joined the circle. "There's Dumbledore, he's at school…" He pointed to a small black dot.

"We're not looking for Dumbledore, are we?" I scowled.

"Sorry," Darren mumbled softly. We all began scanning the paper for Mom and Dad.

"There!" I exclaimed. I pointed to two dots , one was labeled Rosemary Morgan and the other Martin Morgan. "But where are they?" I asked, the building they were in wasn't named and only half of it was in the picture.

"They're somewhere on the outskirts of town, they're near…" Ron pointed at the map, the picture was enlarged. "It looks like they're close to Dr. Martinez's Veterinary Clinic."

"Maximum Ride's mom?" I asked quickly. Ron nodded. "Okay, then, let's go." I said.

"Wait, Des, we can't just go." Darren said quickly.

"Why not?" I asked him.

"'Cause we don't know who else is waiting there." He reasoned.

"I'm sure we'll find out when we get there." I said.

"We're going to need a bigger car too." Nick said. "Squishy can't fit in yours with all of us… plus Mom and Dad."

"We are not taking the dog." Alex said bluntly.

"No!" Nick yelled. "We have to take Squishy! We can't leave him alone! What if those guys come back?" Nick held onto the dog in question.

"He has a point, Darren, go see if the Minivan's in the garage." I said then went into the kitchen. I found the keys easily even though the room was demolished.

"It's here." He mumbled softly.

"Okay, everyone, pile in." I mumbled, trying to swallow down my fear. It would only take an hour to get to the Vet Clinic… in an hour and a half we would all be faced with the Villains from the books. I shivered softly

"Wait, we better bring these." Ron said, grabbing all of my books. "Are these all of them?" He asked. I quickly counted them out then nodded.

In fifteen minutes we had all gotten into the van. Squishy and Nick were confined to the last row of seats due to the fact that having a giant dog leaping between the seats when I was driving would be very, very distracting. Ron sat in front with the Marauder's map opened before him and Alex and Darren took up the row behind us.

One hour of driving had come and gone, I parked near the building that held my parents, hopefully there wouldn't be any Villains in there and we'd be able to get out of this alive. "So?" I asked Ron. "What's the status?"

"I solemnly swear I'm up to no good." Ron recited, the map revealed itself once again. "It looks like your parents are still in there… but there aren't any Villains." He said.

"Good, then this will be easy!" I exclaimed taking off my seatbelt.

"No, it could be a trap." Alex said quickly.

"You think everything's a trap." I replied dryly.

"So?" He huffed. "It's saved my life countless times."

I rolled my eyes. "Okay, Nick, you stay with Squishy—"

"No, I'm coming with you!" Nick growled. "They're my mom and dad too!" He exclaimed.

"Fine, just stay behind us all." I sighed. "Darren, Alex, and Ron, come on, let's go."

Grudgingly my friends left the safety of the van to stand near the building. Nick, Squishy, and I followed. "Okay, here's the plan." Alex started.

"I wanted to make the plan," Ron whined.

"Ron, you put up a shield spell around yourself and then apparate in there, grab their mom and dad then apparate out. Quick and easy."

"Quick and easy for you!" Ron exclaimed. "I have to be the one in danger!" He yelled.

"Ron, we're all in danger!" I yelled at him. "Please, just try." I pleaded with him.

"Fine," He huffed, he turned then disappeared. He appeaered a half second later, blown back by some force, he skidded across the ground.

"Are you okay?" I ran over to him. Squishy was right behind me. I helped Ron up as Squishy licked his face.

"I'm fine, they blocked it, I can't get in with magic, we have to try something else."

"I vote for Darren to go next." Nick said.

"What?" Darren yelped.

"You're half vampire; you have a better chance of living than if we go in there." Nick said.

"Okay, okay, just you wait until it's your turn, buddy." Darren huffed, we followed him to the entrance of the room. The door was knocked off of its' hinges.

"Mom! Dad!" I yelped. They were laying on the dirt floor seemingly unconscious. I ran forward but someone held me back.

"It could still be a trap!" Alex hissed.

"Don't worry, I've got this." Darren mumbled. He took a deep breath then stepped inside the room. Nothing happened. "Huh, that was eas—" Darren was cut off by black smoke pouring in the room from out of nowhere.

Someone in a black cloak and pale features grabbed my mom and dad then suddenly disappeared. Alex yanked Darren out of the building. "Run!" Alex yelled right before the building exploded. We all took cover, but found we didn't need to, Ron had make a quick shield charm around us and the van.

"Do—Do you know who that was?" He asked, he was incredibly pale and seemed to be weak at the knees. "That… that was You-Know-Who!" He yelled.

"Lord Voldemort?" I asked.

"Don't say it!" Ron yelled.

"I thought he died!" I yelled back at him.

"So did I!" Ron yelled back.

_We were in really, really big trouble. _

_**Okay, so hopefully this really, really long chapter made up for the fact that I've accidentally neglected this story. I hope you all enjoy it!**_


	7. Chapter 7

**_Hey! Sorry for not updating, I've been busy with a playing-video-games-watching-movies-and-eating-nac hos-and-pizza styled life. Hopefully this chapter meets expectations… or even goes beyond it. Enough ranting, here's the newest hot-off-the-press chapter of Familiar Strangers!_**

Chapter Seven

"Okay, okay," I muttered, holding my head in my hands.

"We have to get out of here, he might come back… and with company." Alex said stoically, making us all clamber in the van and drive off. No one talked until I was about to turn on the street I lived on.

"We can't go back home." Nick said quietly. "They know where we live."  
"We have to." I replied. "We need supplies and Squishy needs food."

"I have a better idea," Ron said, yanking his wand out of the sleeve of his robe. "What do we need?" He asked.

"Mine and Nick's clothes, Squishy's food, my laptop and printer, and all of my books." I replied quickly.

"Why do we need all that?" Nick asked.

"If my books can do what the Villains think they can, then we have the power here, if I print something out it should come into play." I said softly. "If it doesn't, we need my books… uh, their stories, so that we can know what we're up against."

In ten long minutes we had all that I asked for piled in the back of the minivan. "Ron, how far does that spell reach?" Alex asked.

"Pretty far, I don't know exactly." Ron answered.

"Get our stuff while you're at it." Alex nearly commanded.

"And a large peperoni pizza," Darren joked shamelessly.

"Oh, shove off, Darren." Ron huffed as he started twirling his wand in the air. In another ten minutes the back of the van was so packed that I almost couldn't see out of the rear view window.

"We have to find your parents before we do anything," Alex said. "We can't attack until we know they're safe."

"Attack?" Darren screeched. "Our only plan is staying alive!"

"We'll have to make a move sooner or later!" Alex argued.

"Hello? Does anyone live up there?" Darren rapped his knuckles on Alex's head. "We're kids! We can't attack Villains!"

"You guys have done it before." Nick mumbled.

"Not all of them, not all at once." Darren said softly.

"We'll tell Dumbledore—" Ron started but I cut him off.

"No! If we tell anyone my parents are dead!" I yelled. "We're on our own," I sighed. "We can't let anyone know and we can't raise suspicions."

"A building exploded, we're way past trying to stay incognito." Alex mumbled dryly.

"We didn't blow it up though," I mumbled quietly.

"It caused disturbances, no doubt." Alex said. He turned to Ron. "Bring out that map again."

Ron sighed heavily but opened up the Marauder's Map after reciting 'I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.' "There's no sign of your parents or the other Villains in town, they're either on the outskirts or underground."

"I guess this would be a good time to be friends with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles…" Nick sighed.

"Yeah, and we could eat so much pizza." Darren muttered dreamily. Nick nodded and Squishy whined.

"Will you two stop fooling around?" Alex yelled.

"We have to come up with a plan before nightfall." I said. "Night is going to be when they act."

"I'm stronger at night too; we're not at a total disadvantage." Darren said.

"We, as a team, are." Alex pointed out. Darren mumbled some crude words then scooted away from Alex. "And Destiny's right, we need a plan before nightfall, and we need a place we can stay when it is nightfall."

"We can't leave the van, it's our getaway car!" Nick immediately protested.

"He's right, and we can't all go check into a hotel on a school night, we can't raise suspicions." Ron mumbled, still studying the map.

"Well, whip up some blankets, Magic Man." Alex huffed.

"I'll tell you what I can whip up, Rider!" Ron yelled raising his wand in the air.

"Oh stop it!" I yelled. "All of you!" I pulled over to the side of the road. We were a few miles from the town limits. "We can't be arguing like this!" I huffed. "We need a safe place to park the van and to get things organized. I don't think we should leave town."

"We definitely shouldn't leave town…" Alex mumbled.

"We have two and a half hours until sundown." Darren announced.

"Your parents still haven't shown up on the map." Ron said softly.

"We won't have enough time, even if they did show up on the map now to go and save them. We don't have a plan." Nick said. He surprised me, in the last three hours he had matured immensely. "We have to wait until tomorrow."

"We—" I sighed, knowing he was right. "Okay, but we still need a safe place we can put the van."

"What about my parent's yard?" Ron brought up.

"Inconspicuous, Ron." I deadpanned. "Does that mean nothing to you?" He frowned, and lowered his eyes. "What I meant was, no one should know what we're doing; having my 'muggle' van in your parent's yard is the antonym of inconspicuous."

"And incognito." I shot Alex a glare.

Our arguing was stopped instantly by someone knocking on my driver's side window. "You know, the hospital your mom's supposed to be in is about twenty miles in the opposite direction."

"Uh oh," Nick mumbled.


End file.
